“That’s ridiculous!”
Koi snapped, his voice sharp and imdiate. The sudden outburst caught Ashley off guard. He hadn’t expected such a strong reaction, and it threw him for a mont.
“...Why?”
When he finally spoke, his voice was different from usual—but Koi didn’t notice at all. He just kept shaking his head.
“That’s not possible. I an, that friend is a guy. My friend is a guy too. They’re both guys—how could he like him?”
Koi clamped his mouth shut, thinking that was a reasonable, textbook response. Surely Ashley would agree with him now.
But he didn’t.
Ashley opened his mouth and said,
“Then he must’ve happened to fall for a guy.”
“Wha...”
Koi was struck speechless. He studied Ashley’s expression, wondering if it was a joke—but there wasn’t even a trace of humor. If anything, Ashley looked completely serious, and that only confused Koi more.
He hadn’t expected Ashley to react like this. What should I say? Should I agree with him? No, this still doesn’t make sense. There’s got to be sothing else—sothing I’m missing.
Fidgeting, Koi hurried to speak again.
“They’re not an oga or an alpha. We—no, I an, they’re both betas.”
He quickly corrected himself and anxiously looked at Ashley, hoping he hadn’t given himself away.
Ashley just looked down at him silently. There was no disgust, no surprise. Koi was nervous, but then Ashley spoke.
“Why would that be a problem?”
“What?”
Koi stared, dumbfounded by the unexpected answer.
“I’m saying, they’re both betas. If one of them were an oga or alpha, maybe it’d make sense—but they’re both betas. That’s weird.”
“And why is that weird?”
Ashley kept pressing. Koi fumbled for a response, but Ashley didn’t stop.
“If it’s okay for ogas and alphas, why not betas? Because ogas and alphas can have kids? So you can only love soone if you can reproduce with them? That whole thing about pheromones—getting obsessed with that and jumping into relationships, that’s just instinct. Is that really what loving soone ans? Just going into heat and sleeping with whoever, and that’s supposed to be normal and acceptable? But liking soone of the sa gender is only okay if you’re an alpha or an oga?”
No.
As Ashley spoke, Koi found his thoughts drifting to a single word. No. This can’t be happening. It’s not possible.
Ashley suddenly took a step forward. Startled, Koi stepped back. Ashley stopped in place and said,
“Koi.”
Then he continued.
“I don’t think that’s weird at all.”
Ashley looked at him more seriously than he ever had. In his eyes was sothing close to desperation, though there was no reason for it to be there.
“Traits don’t matter. Liking soone is just sothing that happens, naturally—”
“We—we’re gonna be late to class.”
Ashley tried to keep going in that grave tone, but Koi cut him off, panicked.
“Koi!”
Ashley called out, but Koi didn’t stop. He turned on his heel and ran toward the school building, his thoughts stuck on one thing.
No. This feeling is wrong.
Ashley was just being nice because he thought it was soone else’s problem. He would never imagine it was about him.
Besides, think about it—how could soone like ever fall for Ashley Miller?
Forget about oga or beta. That’s not the point. The real problem is that I’m Connor Niles. That’s why Ashley’s wrong this ti. I don’t like him like that. I just admire him. That’s all it is. It can’t be anything more.
Absolutely, never.
*
Ashley stood there, watching Koi’s retreating back as he ran with everything he had. He was probably out of breath already, but it wouldn’t take more than a few steps for Ashley to catch up.
Still, he didn’t chase him. Instead, he slowly walked in the sa direction. Thinking back on how Koi had reacted, he knew he had to reconsider things moving forward.
He hadn’t expected that strong of a denial.
Ashley realized he’d underestimated Koi. Because he always smiled and seed to like him, he’d assud that if Koi realized how he felt, he’d just admit it. But he’d been completely wrong.
He rembered the way Koi’s face had gone pale in an instant, and a deep crease ford between Ashley’s brows. Whatever the reason, Koi’s walls were taller and stronger than he thought. Getting him to accept those feelings would take much more care.
Soone passing by said hello, but Ashley ignored them. His mind was consud with just one thought.
I’ll need a different approach.
*
Haaa...
Sitting alone in the cafeteria doing howork, Koi let out a long sigh. His head was starting to ache from the tension that had followed him all day. Thankfully, Ashley had acted completely normal afterward. Koi had spent the entire day on edge, terrified he’d bring up that conversation again—but by the last class, he was completely drained.
And that wasn’t even the end of it. There was still skating practice. As always, he planned to wait in the cafeteria and do his howork while Ashley trained—but today, he just couldn’t focus.
Eventually, the alarm he’d set went off, and he scrambled to pack up and head out. He hurried to find his bike, intending to ride to the spot where Ashley usually parked. But on the way, he ran into an unexpected face.
“Oh, Koi.”
Bill greeted him first, just coming out from the evening practice. And it wasn’t just Bill—several of the main players from the hockey team were pouring out behind him. Practice must’ve ended early today. Koi froze, glancing around for Ashley, and Bill and the others approached him.
“What’re you still doing here this late? Howork?”
“Uh? Yeah.”
It wasn’t a lie, so he nodded instinctively. One of the other guys jumped in.
“Did you do Martinez’s assignnt? Man, it’s way too much.”
“She’s always like that. It’s like she thinks we don’t have any other howork.”
“Pretty sure this is human rights violation territory.”
Koi just stood there, unable to ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) get a word in as they rambled on.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the person he’d been waiting for.
“Ash.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
His face lit up without him even realizing, and Bill, noticing where he was looking, turned and said, “Oh, hey. Why are you so late today? What were you up to?”
Ashley, clearly amused by whatever Bill was implying, smacked him lightly on the back of the head and asked,
“What about you guys? What are you all doing here? Why haven’t you left yet?”
It was then Koi realized the rest of the group had already gone. Only the main players were still there, and that made Koi jump. Had that much ti passed already?
One of the guys answered Ashley instead of Bill.
“We were heading out and saw Koi, so we stopped to chat.”
“Koi stayed behind to do howork. Impressive, right?”
The harmless teasing rained down on him, and Koi smiled awkwardly. That’s when Bill suddenly turned to him.
“Koi, you’re coming too, right? To Ash’s party.”
“Uh...”
Caught off guard, Koi blinked. Bill grinned playfully, like it was obvious that Koi belonged with them now. That smile made Koi happy, and he opened his mouth to answer.
But before he could say anything, Ashley cut in.
“Koi can’t. He always works on weekends, rember? Right?”
“Uh...”
Koi froze. Ashley was right. He practiced skating during the week, but on weekends, he had to work from morning to night.
All eyes were on him. Feeling the pressure, Koi hesitated before nodding.
“Y-Yeah... I can’t.”
“Alright then. Let’s go. See you, Koi. Later.”
Before Koi had even finished speaking, Ashley had already turned to leave. The others followed his lead, saying their goodbyes.
“Later, Koi.”
“Have a good weekend.”
“See ya!”
Their voices flew at him from all directions, but Koi could only stand there and mutter, “Yeah... okay...”
Ashley and the others walked off, laughing and sharing sothing on their phones. Koi stood there, alone, watching them fade into the distance. His nose stung, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
It’s fine. I was going to say I couldn’t go anyway.
It was good that Ashley turned it down for him. He’d only hesitated because he couldn’t find the words. Next ti, he’d be more direct.
“Huuuh...”
He deliberately took a long, loud breath. Standing there alone, Koi didn’t move for a while. There was no one else around. In the suffocating silence, a single thought finally floated to the surface.
He’s gone. Ash is gone too.
He hadn’t even gotten the chance to ask about skate practice. That was the whole reason he’d stayed. But he could guess why.
He didn’t want the others to find out they were spending ti alone together.
Ashley must’ve wanted to keep it secret. The rest of the guys clearly had no idea. He was being kind to Koi, sure—but the idea of anyone knowing they were close probably embarrassed him.
Good thing I didn’t say anything about skating at his house.
His eyes began to sting, his nose prickled. He dragged his feet toward his bike, hands on the handlebars, and sniffled. His eyes burned imdiately.
Koi wiped his face with one hand while holding the bike with the other. Crying over sothing like this—how ridiculous. Why did it hurt so much?
It’s just a party. All he said was that I couldn’t co.
But then, Koi realized.
Was it the party that hurt? Or was it the fact that Ashley was embarrassed by him?
It was both, and neither.
There was sothing deeper.
Ashley...
left behind.
And then—
“Koi!”
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